If the Great Desolation World of the Present Ancient Era were a chessboard, Gu Qingfeng clearly understood he was but a single piece upon it. Perhaps from the moment he fused with the blood of Original Sin, or even from the moment he was born from his mother's womb, his fate as a chess piece was sealed.
Just how many pieces were on this chessboard, Gu Qingfeng did not know, nor did he wish to know.
Exactly who was playing against whom on this chessboard of the Present Ancient Era, Gu Qingfeng similarly did not know, nor did he wish to know.
Even now, as he sank deeper and deeper down the path of Original Sin—so deep that his existence now influenced the entire state of the game—he still had no desire to learn anything about this chessboard.
He had no interest whatsoever in these troublesome affairs, not even a shred.
He lived now purely for the sake of living, not for Karma, not for Fate, and certainly not for this accursed Original Sin.
He only wanted to live for himself, to do the things he wished to do. As for everything else, he had but four words: let nature take its course.
Whether it was Karma or Fate, whether it was the Nine Heavens or the Nine Nethers, whether it was the Three Thousand Great Daos or the blessed paradises and cave heavens—whoever wanted to play, Gu Qingfeng would play along. They could play however they wished; he would accept it all, welcoming any and all challengers.
Just like now.
He knew the mastermind behind the scenes would inevitably expose his identity, stirring up turmoil in the Great Desolation and forcing the Nine Heavens Immortal Path to make a move.
It was like dark clouds gathering now, thunder beginning to rumble. Everyone knew a storm was about to break.
As for when this storm would arrive, how it would arrive, or how violent it would be, Gu Qingfeng couldn't be bothered to think about it.
As far as he was concerned, they could unleash the storm whenever they wanted, however they wanted, and as fiercely as they wanted.
Gu Qingfeng didn't care. He paid it no mind.
He had long since seen through it all, long since grown indifferent.
In the void of the Lingluo Heavenly Domain, people came and went, gathering in small groups and discussing various matters. And Gu Qingfeng swaggered openly through the midst of the crowd.
Of course.
He hadn't come here to idle about purely for the spectacle. He had come for that layer of profound, mysterious radiance enveloping the Lingluo Heavenly Domain.
According to Huode, this layer of mysterious radiance was the Lingluo Light. It only appeared in the Lingluo Heavenly Domain when the Lingluo Ancestral Realm opened and the slumbering Lingluo Ancestral Patriarch—the renowned Lingluo Emperor—awakened.
Back when he and Huode first arrived at the Lingluo Heavenly Domain and saw this radiance, Gu Qingfeng had felt a sense of déjà vu. At the time, however, he hadn't given it much thought. The longer he stayed in the Lingluo Heavenly Domain, the stronger this feeling of déjà vu grew.
Originally, Gu Qingfeng hadn't wanted to bother with it.
Because in his experience, whenever he felt a sense of déjà vu, the matter was nine times out of ten related to the Era Without Dao.
After going through so much turmoil and experiencing so many events, Gu Qingfeng now felt an inexplicable weariness towards anything and anyone from the Era Without Dao.
If this Lingluo Light were merely a pure sense of déjà vu, Gu Qingfeng might not have been interested at all.
But this Lingluo Light gave Gu Qingfeng a feeling that was not purely one of déjà vu. It also carried a sensation both familiar and strange, accompanied by a tangled mix of love and hate, a desire to see and yet not see—a contradictory and complex jumble of emotions.
In all his years of living, only one person had ever made Gu Qingfeng feel this conflicted and complex.
That person was Jun Xuanji.
Moreover, the more he felt it, the more it resembled Jun Xuanji.
If that were truly the case, then did it mean the Ancestral Patriarch who had once opened up the Lingluo Heavenly Domain, the one hailed as the Lingluo Emperor, was actually Jun Xuanji?
Don't mention it.
If this happened to anyone else, it might seem incredible. But if it happened to Jun Xuanji, in Gu Qingfeng's view, it was perfectly normal.
Jun Xuanji had always been shrouded in mystery, so mysterious that Gu Qingfeng had never been able to see through her. Moreover, she was mad and deranged, mentally unstable, especially in her mystical, murmuring state—a sight Gu Qingfeng could never forget.
Jun Xuanji seemed to know a great many things about the Era Without Dao. It was a pity she had become lost, unable to remember anything. What kind of person she was before she lost herself, no one knew, not even she herself.
Never mind Jun Xuanji being the Ancestral Patriarch who opened the Lingluo Heavenly Domain; even if Jun Xuanji claimed to be the Goddess Nüwa, Gu Qingfeng would believe her. That woman was too bizarre, so bizarre that in Gu Qingfeng's eyes, no strange occurrence related to Jun Xuanji would be strange at all.
However.
If Jun Xuanji truly was the Ancestral Patriarch of the Lingluo Heavenly Domain…
What kind of game was she playing?
After all, the Ancestral Patriarch of the Lingluo Heavenly Domain had not shown herself since the Primordial Era. Moreover, she awakened once every thousand years. What did she do after awakening?
Why did she specifically awaken once every thousand years? And when she awakened, was it her true self-consciousness?
Or her ego-consciousness?
Or some other messy, jumbled consciousness?
What exactly was the Jun Xuanji he had met?
Was she the reincarnation of the Lingluo Ancestral Patriarch?
Or merely an avatar?
Or something else entirely?
Jun Xuanji was lost.
Was it her true self that was lost, or an avatar?
Was it her true self-consciousness that was lost, or merely her ego-consciousness?
He did not know.
Regarding all matters concerning Jun Xuanji, Gu Qingfeng was completely in the dark.
And strangely enough, towards others, Gu Qingfeng could be utterly indifferent and uninterested.
But towards Jun Xuanji alone, his heart always held a very special feeling.
This feeling.
It was a very primal thing, more like an instinct, as if he had been born with no resistance whatsoever against Jun Xuanji.
That's right.
He had no resistance against Jun Xuanji.
It was completely beyond his control; he would be drawn to Jun Xuanji involuntarily.
In the past.
He had wondered if he had truly developed feelings for Jun Xuanji.
But it was as if a voice within his heart warned him that this feeling was not affection.
All along, the reason he felt that tangled mix of love and hate towards Jun Xuanji, the desire to see her yet not see her, was precisely because of this.
Because he couldn't tell if he had truly developed feelings for Jun Xuanji, or if it was due to Karma, or arranged by Fate, or if he had fallen under some love curse cast by Jun Xuanji.
It wasn't that Gu Qingfeng was overly suspicious, but Jun Xuanji's existence was too mysterious, too bizarre.
Most importantly, back when Jun Xuanji wanted to become Dao companions with Gu Qingfeng and was rejected, she was heartbroken. She had once said in front of Gu Qingfeng that she would cast a love curse on him, making Gu Qingfeng think of her for eternity, suffering the pangs of longing.
Ever since Jun Xuanji became lost.
Although Gu Qingfeng hadn't constantly thought of Jun Xuanji, every time he saw her, his heart was tormented. Even hearing Jun Xuanji's name stirred an indescribable feeling within him.
Sometimes Gu Qingfeng truly suspected he might have fallen under Jun Xuanji's love curse.